Never bite the fat-laden hand that feeds you

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It's taken a while but market researchers are starting to come out on the side of the food industry.

In the past week, two local research studies have emerged to show the public doesn't blame food companies or junk food advertising for our rising problem of obesity in kids. About 60 per cent of people, however, believe fast food should carry cigarette-style health warnings.

One of the studies came from the agency that handles the Federal Government's media-buying contract, Universal McCann. Its survey results showed mothers strongly agreed that responsibility for obesity lay with the individual.

"They overwhelmingly stated that parents and individuals - not government, food manufacturers or retailers - should carry the responsibility for obesity among today's children," Universal said of the study's findings.

The media group's survey of 150 mums across the country showed 47 per cent felt individuals were "most at fault" for the rising obesity problem, while 33 per cent felt it was the problem of parents.

Moreover, the cause of obesity, according to 75per cent of the Universal study's mums, was not overeating but a lack of exercise.

While 150 respondents is not exactly a robust statistical sample, bear in mind this is the type of information that food companies around the world refer to.

These Australian figures contributed to Universal's "Global Nutritional Survey", which food and drink companies such as Coca-Cola, Nestle and Unilever all receive as clients of Universal.

Another local researcher, Colmar Brunton, also came out this week on the side of the food industry in its quest to fight a proposed ban on junk food advertising to kids.

"Labor's plan to cure childhood obesity by banning junk food advertisements has gone belly-up, with only one in four Australians believing this is the answer to the growing problem," the researcher said. "By contrast, one in two Australians believe that the Federal Government's plan to encourage children to get more active is the best strategy to fight childhood obesity."

So there you go. The market researchers say the people say obesity is the person's own fault because of a lack of exercise, which is also their fault. Clearly, according to market researchers, the problem is not about eating too much food or bad food.

But have a chat to the author of Food Politics, Professor Marion Nestle, of the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health at New York University, and she will argue that Western consumers do eat too much. That's not quite the information that food companies want up in lights.

But because we could bounce around academia for a year proving whatever argument we like, let's throw in another sector for blame: supermarkets.

In my humble opinion, a little effort by supermarkets to rejig some of their food sections with better products, better shelf placement of those products and more lifestyle reminders in the aisles surrounding both the healthy and dodgy products could have a benefit.

The supermarkets love to trot out the figure that more than 70 per cent of buying decisions are made in store, so maybe they could help?

Fat chance. The grocery chains generate too much revenue from less healthy product lines. And they want only to sell more of them, because those lines are usually owned by the companies that can pay the loadings for premium shelf space and in-store promotions.